The prince’s smugness flowed from every part of his body as he gracefully blocked Mari’s punches with his bare hands.  Mari strikes were strong enough to shatter wood and stone yet her advisory took them with seemingly zero impact.

The arrogant prince did little on the offensive, merely reacting to the wild strikes and furious kicks that Mari sent his way.

“Stop dodging and fight me.”

“You’re not worth the effort little stray”

“How about I take these gauntlets and shove them up your ass." 

"You're welcome to try."

Mari landed a clean hit on the Princes stomach knocking the wind out of him and prompting the prick to cough up some blood.

“Just die.” Mari grunted, landing another clean hit on his handsome face, caving his cheek in and sending him careering into the same tree where Shinobu met her untimely death.

The prince crumpled into a bloody heap, his body contorted, lifeless and limp, Mari let out a sigh of relief she marveled at her new ability.  Casually walking over to the prince’s corpse, Mari spat on the body before turning her back.

She knew it wasn’t the prince, but seeing him there mangled and lifeless and bloody brought an intoxicating level of satisfaction that Mari couldn’t help to plaster a smirk on her face.

“Let’s solve this forsaken trial.”

“Leaving so soon.”

Mari turned around to find Seijuro standing right behind her in a swift motion as he coiled his hand firm around her neck and strangled her while lifting her off the ground.  Mari gasped as they restricted her breathing.

Mari raised herself up delivering a swift knee to the prince’s face prying herself free and sending him back a few meters.  He was lying on the ground, blood spewing from his nose and forehead.

“This time stay dead.”

Mari said, bringing her foot down in a mighty stomp, splitting the prince’s head open like a watermelon.  Mari wasn’t foolish enough to let her guard down twice, but by now she was already surpassing her limits and couldn’t handle much more.

“Sol Trabem” the prince’s voice cried out and a beam of white fiery light crashed into Mari from above, scorching the ground beneath her.

The prince was floating in the ear, his injuries miraculously healed and that unflinching look still seared into his face; the pain was exceptionally agonizing.  The greaves and gauntlets had protected her body by taking the brunt of the hit, but Mari lacked the strength to maintain the spell, causing them to disperse.

“Do you understand now, Stray?”

“No talking back, okay, good, just listen.”

“You can’t kill me.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I can and I’ll keep killing you until you stay dead.”

Mari agonizing stumbled back to her feet her legs were shaking and her arms felt like dead weight taking all her remaining strength just to lift them.

“Do you want to know the reason you can’t kill me?”

“Because you’re not really here, this is an illusion created by the fourth trial, doesn’t matter to me killing is you so fucking cathartic I could do it all day.”

Seijuro approached Mari at a leisurely pace and Mari’s body cramped up she could no longer move it was if her whole body became paralyzed at once.

“The truth is painfully simple the reason you can’t kill me is…”

“I’m already a part of you mind and soul.”

“Hell, I’m the most important living person to you, I’m all you think about.”

Seijuro placed two of his fingers on Mari’s forehead and a rush of memories started playing before her eyes her torture at the hands of Daphne, Maya and Seijuro and how she could not save Shinobu and that excruciating pain that Mari never wanted to feel again.

Her breathing became laboured as she fell to her knees, becoming violently ill and breaking out into cold shivers, her muscles were spasm uncontrollably.  He was right for all her bluster and talk of revenge and retribution. She fears him of what he represents.

“Mind and soul, let’s carve the memory of me into your body and so you’ll truly never forget me.”

Seijuro knocked Mari onto her back with a swift kick and straddled her tear, her cloths starting with her top, Mari tried to fight back but her body failed and her limp arms couldn’t keep his lecherous tainted hands at bay.

He fondled Mari’s exposed breast Mari winced in disgust she didn’t want to be touched not by him or anyone else.

“Velvet…” Mari whimpered.

“Velvet can’t help you hear.”

“Huh?” Mari said

The child from earlier knelt to Mari’s side and removed her mask, revealing her dazzling emerald eyes the same colour as Shinobu.  The girl looked serious, as if she was about to give Mari a stern lecture.

“Are you really just going to lie their and take it?”

“I don’t have choice, I don’t have any strength left.”

“That’s bullshit Mari where’s the strength you had took down that Darkthorn and saved my life?”

“Without Velvet’s power I’m nothing.”

Shinobu slapped Mari hard across her cheek. The stinging sensation brought her a strange sense of calm, as if bringing her down from an anxiety attack, a trait that unfortunately carried over from her past life.

“That’s bullshit now get up and fight, fight tooth and nail use your teeth if you have to.”

“Right” Mari sighed.

“You want some physical contact with okay try this.”

Mari lurched forward sinking her teeth into the prince’s soft cheek and tearing free a pound of flesh spitting it out in a pile of blood. Seizing the opportunity to gain power in the situation, Mari pressed forward, toppling the wounded prince to the ground.

Straddling him, Mari pummeled the prince’s face desperately until it all that remained was a mess of blood, bone and brain matter.

“Don’t flatter yourself, I’m not afraid of you.”

“And when I meet you again, I’ll kill you for real, you cunt.”

The portal to exist the trial emerged and Mari limped towards it not before hugging the child Shinobu and promising to avenge her.

And with that ordeal over with, Mari had successfully completed the four trials of Lisianthus Academy.

“I’m coming to see you, Headmistress.”